The Brookhaven leader., 1887-10-06

IpIdl ........... ........s. ......Sl 900 w
more exempt than he pays on. On
this 5 900, as assessed, he pays little
less than 20 cents TO each Of these ColLeges
say 40 cents for bOth-as calculated for
me by the Auditor of Public Accounts.
Forty cents on 81, 355 worth of pro 1ertv
to give to poor girls an industrial educa-
ton, and to poor boys an opportunity of
being skilled and progressive farmers!!!
Terrible and outrageous oppression
this.. But if rs we ought to, we esti-
mate his assessed property at double
the amount, then he would have over
$4,000 on which to pay this insign ficant
tax of 40 cents, which, believe is lit
tie less than the price of three drinks at
saloon. Could not that man refrain
from the three drinks, which will be all
, The better for him, anyway, and pay the
>mall tax, for so noble and useful pur-
pose? And if he be teetotaler and
does not drink at all, then surely, hav-
ing himself relieved from the expense,
cannot he afford to pay that little for
so great good? There are hundreds of
men in this State who pay from 500 to
| $5OO each year to support common
schools, and who, from some cause or
other, are unable to patronize them.
Especially is this the case in the Yazoo
Delta, where the white population is so
scant, that though there are schools,
yet very few for white children.
SO you see, that the argument,
that keeping up these Colleges,
designed and carried on for the
benefit Of poor boys and girls, Expresses the
poor, when examined, is found to be ut
terly baseless. With every sympathy
of my nature for the misfortunes of the
pOOr,-with every act of my public life,
guided and directed by this sympathy
| feel that | ought to denounce this I'M
just and unfair argument, intended to
cheat the lab1ring, tOiling masses of
Mississippi out of a fair opportunity of
advancement and progress, as unworthy
to be made or entertained.
There is class of men-few, indeed,
as | believe, yet who have always exist
ed In free gOvernment-who,ju Just before
an election in which they seek for of
fee, '0Orth more in a month than labor
ing man gets IN a gear, become exceed
ing y solcitOus about the welfare of the
poor,-the laborers,--an exhibit their
read y-made sympathy, not by devising
honest, real measures for their adj
vancement and welfare, but in preach.
ing discomfort and weeping, 10 public,
a pretended sympathy for ills which
they never feel. These men, sometimes,
are doubtless sincere, and believe what
they say. For it is true that man may
habitually assert his belief in shams
and delusiOns, until they become to him
realities. An eminent physician in an
county TO yours, tells me that
he has kept off old age by constantly and
habitually training his mind to the be-
lief that he is ten years younger than he
is. Now, in opposition to all this stuff
about the oppression of the poor, by the
taxing and educational system of Missis-
sippi, | say that the taxing system is
exceptionally in their favor, as ii ought
to be. Poverty is misfortune more
often than fault; but it is not a c)ndi-
ton, the existence of which laws and
measures of government should encour-
age. On the contrary, the grandest
aims of craftsmanship are to remove
pauperism aud want from the State.
This can't be done by mere legislative
1t is not in human power,
by the mere fiat of Be it enacted" to
create wealth or remove poverty. the
removal comes when governments are
fair and just, only from, but always
from superior intelligence, energy, self
denial and thrift The man who, by
these methods, has acquired property, is
not to be regarded as an enemy of socie-
ty, but as its friend; and he is entitled
to all the protection of the laws that the
humblest and the grandest are entitled
to. If you Danish such men you binish
progress and enterprise. You may by
this measure get the desired level; but
it will be level in which the misery
and want and the despair of the poor
will be increased. So, again say, we
must level upwards, not downwards, By
,levating the lowly-not by putting
Town those who have won pre-emi-
hence by their own skill, energy and
'elf-denial
The best method known to man.--to